Chapter Three: The Flameless Makes the Stele Bow

“Tell me yours first.” “I have none. Your ancestor carved it into his crown and wore it for two hundred years.” “What should I call you?” “Veyra. Your mother gave me that name.” Lain’s breath caught. The palace record gave his mother one line: lowborn maid, dead in childbirth. Lain remembered her rough hands and a wordless lullaby. No record said she knew a dragon imprisoned under the palace. “You knew Eileen?” “She was not Eileen. Not truly.” Invisible fire left the dragon’s mouth. Lain glimpsed a burning temple, a woman in a crown of white bone passing an infant to a servant, and Mordred’s face many years younger. Then it vanished. 【New causal anchor: Mother’s false name.】 【Unknown branch has appeared in the Blood Trial.】